Joanna Shields: Facebook’s music offering will be next game-changer

Facebook’s EMEA vice president Joanna Shields says the site’s revamped music offering will develop the music industry much like the site has added value to the gaming category.

/j/f/e/Facebook.jpg

The social network has helped social gaming companies such as Zynga grow to be worth an estimated $5.5bn (£3.5bn), according to US analyst PrivFirm.

Speaking at Wired 2011 in London, Shields said the next category Facebook is looking to focus on growing its music offering.

She said: “We are changing the music experience and making it more rich, engaging, personal and fun.”

Facebook’s recent update includes a partnership with Spotify in Europe, that allows users to update their friends on what they are listening to, or instantly listen to their friends’ playlists.

At the launch of Facebook’s design overhaul last month, Daniel Ek, chief executive of Spotify said: “Social discovery on Facebook means we are going back to making people pay for music again.”

Shields said Facebook has developed its own “Moore’s Law” for the amount of content that is shared on the site, which has doubled since 2010 and is expected to double again next year.

Facebook now has 800 million users globally, with more than half of those returning to the site every day, Shields claimed.

She added the marketing world is currently in the midst of a “creative renaissance”, with people who used to create advertising for TV now focusing their time on creating social media campaigns.

“Advertising is changing based on the possibility of the power of tapping in to personal recommendations,” she said.

Recommended

/u/a/w/MartinMoll.jpg

Viewpoint: Honda: Martin Moll, marketing director

Michael Barnett

Find out why advertisers are demanding more data for TV, click here For a viewpoint with Santander’s director of brand and communications, click here For a viewpoint with Moneysupermarket’s director of consumer marketing, click here For a viewpoint with eHarmony’s UK country manager, click here Every marketer’s dream is to understand who their customer is […]